Ladies: Vaginal Issues??

If your estrogen levels are low (totally possible with Lyme and adrenal fatigue) then you could be experiencing vaginal atrophy. It thins the tissues of the vulva and vagina to the point that they burn when touched, sort of like the inside of an eyelid. People fix it by addressing the hormone problem underlying it. Sometimes a simple estrogen cream fixes it for people, if you are comfortable using hormones in that way. It happens to people who breastfeed a lot or are going through menopause, but somehow no one knows about it, so folks dealing with it are told by doctors to "use more lube," as though that fixes it! I learned about vaginal atrophy through extensive research when my child was nursing (and thus keeping my estrogen levels low); I had this awful pain and sensitivity for 19 months (until my menstrual cycle returned) and five gynecologists couldn't tell me what was wrong, and eventually I found the explanation myself. So beware the ignorance....

It's also possible that you have a type of yeast that's resistant to treatment; that is becoming fairly common. Your doctor could culture the yeast to make sure you're getting the right antifungal med, or you could try the natural options, since yeasts remain receptive to those treatments.

Sara (POTS, HPA axis dysfunction, ME, Lyme)

Thank you both so much for your replies; it’s great to get some insight.

I hadn’t even considered low estrogen. I’ll definitely bring that up at my appointment. Hopefully this new gynecologist will be more thorough - my previous one was good until the issues I was having started becoming more complex. He began writing it all off as yeast, and when I complained of non-cyclical breast pain, he did a breast exam with my bra ON. Yeah.

So, here’s hoping! It’s difficult to find doctors who take women’s pain as seriously as they should, I’ve found.

https://www.vagifem.com/treatment